Child Abuse Death Disclosure Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1483 To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to review child fatalities from maltreatment, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to review child fatalities from maltreat- ment, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Abuse Death 4 Disclosure Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING NATIONAL DATA ON CHILD FA- 6 TALITIES FROM MALTREATMENT. 7 (a) IV–B REQUIREMENT TO REVIEW CHILD FATALI- 8 TIES FROM MALTREATMENT.—Section 422(b)(19) of the 9 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(19)) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1483 IS (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ 1 after the semicolon; 2 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 3 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(C) an assurance that the State shall— 6 ‘‘(i) engage at least annually, and, 7 more frequently as necessary, in a multi- 8 disciplinary review of all child fatalities 9 from maltreatment in the State that oc- 10 curred during the previous year in accord- 11 ance with the requirements of section 12 429A; and’’. 13 (b) REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—Subpart 1 of part B 14 of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et 15 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘SEC. 429A. ONGOING REVIEW OF CHILD FATALITIES FROM 17 MALTREATMENT. 18 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—In order to satisfy the re- 19 quirements of section 422(b)(19)(C), a State shall require 20 the State’s multidisciplinary child death review team or, 21 if the State does not have such a team as of the date of 22 enactment of this section, a multidisciplinary team estab- 23 lished by the State that is comprised of representatives 24 of integral elements of the State child welfare system, such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1483 IS as child welfare workers, child protective services workers, 1 prosecutors, law enforcement, coroners or medical exam- 2 iners, public health care providers, pediatricians with ex- 3 pertise in child maltreatment and the child welfare system, 4 children’s advocacy centers, substance use disorder treat- 5 ment providers, and advocates and researchers for the pre- 6 vention and treatment of domestic violence, as well as rep- 7 resentatives of educators, including early childhood edu- 8 cators and child care providers (in this section referred 9 to as the ‘review team’), to review, at least annually and 10 more frequently as necessary, all child fatalities from mal- 11 treatment in the State that occurred during the most re- 12 cently ended fiscal year and for which the period for all 13 administrative or judicial review is complete. Any child fa- 14 tality from maltreatment in the State that occurred during 15 the most recently ended fiscal year but for which the pe- 16 riod for all administrative or judicial review is not com- 17 plete shall be reviewed by the review team in during the 18 first review period that occurs after the period for which 19 all administrative or judicial review is complete. 20 ‘‘(b) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The review 21 team shall— 22 ‘‘(1) for each child fatality from maltreatment 23 in the State subject to review, make findings based 24 on information available to the review team regard- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1483 IS ing the causes of child’s fatality and other factors 1 that impacted the child’s fatality, including to the 2 extent possible and taking into account privacy pro- 3 tections under Federal and State law— 4 ‘‘(A) the circumstances of the fatality; 5 ‘‘(B) the characteristics of the victim, the 6 perpetrators, including their relationship to the 7 child, and the parents or guardians of the child; 8 ‘‘(C) whether there were previous familial 9 interactions with child protective services and 10 the outcomes of those interactions; 11 ‘‘(D) whether the child had any siblings 12 and how many; 13 ‘‘(E) whether there were other children 14 present or living in the household at the time 15 of the fatality; and 16 ‘‘(F) the social services, public cash or in- 17 kind assistance (including housing), health (in- 18 cluding mental health) services, alcohol or sub- 19 stance use disorder treatment, or other public 20 or private services provided to or on behalf of 21 the child prior to the child’s death; 22 ‘‘(2) submit all findings and data made in ac- 23 cordance with paragraph (1) to the Child Death Re- 24 view Case Reporting System (in this section referred 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1483 IS to as the ‘CDR Reporting System’) operated by the 1 National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention; 2 ‘‘(3) based on the findings made in accordance 3 with paragraph (1), develop recommendations for 4 preventing future child fatalities from maltreatment; 5 and 6 ‘‘(4) submit a report, at least annually, and, 7 more frequently as necessary, to the State Governor, 8 the State legislature, and, if the incident reporting 9 threshold established under subsection (c) is met, to 10 the Secretary, that contains the findings and data 11 submitted to the CDR Reporting System under sub- 12 paragraph (2) (de-identified) and the recommenda- 13 tions developed under paragraph (3). 14 ‘‘(c) INCIDENT REPORTING THRESHOLD.— 15 ‘‘(1) STATE-SPECIFIC THRESHOLDS.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary annu- 17 ally shall establish a national reporting incident 18 threshold for each State for purposes of pro- 19 tecting the privacy of families and other living 20 individuals whose information is part of the 21 findings and data submitted under subsection 22 (b)(2) and the reports to the State Governor 23 and State Legislature required under subsection 24 (b)(4). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1483 IS ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In establishing the 1 national reporting incident threshold for a 2 State, the Secretary shall ensure that the re- 3 porting threshold is subject to privacy protec- 4 tions that are designed to protect the privacy 5 of— 6 ‘‘(i) children; 7 ‘‘(ii) individuals who are not the per- 8 petrators of the child maltreatment that 9 resulted in the fatality; and 10 ‘‘(iii) individuals who are or have been 11 victimized by domestic violence or who are 12 at risk of domestic violence. 13 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—If the number of child fa- 14 talities from maltreatment in a State in a fiscal year 15 is below the reporting threshold established for the 16 State for the fiscal year, the State shall not submit 17 the report required under subsection (b)(4) to the 18 Secretary but shall submit to the Secretary— 19 ‘‘(A) the findings and data submitted to 20 the CDR Reporting System under subsection 21 (b)(2) for the purpose of making such findings 22 and data accessible as a public use data set on 23 the national website required under subsection 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1483 IS (g) after redacting any personal identifying in- 1 formation; and 2 ‘‘(B) the recommendations developed under 3 subsection (b)(3). 4 ‘‘(d) TRAINING.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to satisfy the re- 6 quirements of section 422(b)(19)(C) and subsection 7 (i), a State shall provide the following short-term 8 training: 9 ‘‘(A) REVIEW TEAM SPECIFIC DUTIES.— 10 The State shall provide the members and staff 11 of the review team with training regarding— 12 ‘‘(i) applying the set of national defi- 13 nition standards promulgated under sec- 14 tion 3(a) of the Child Abuse Death Disclo- 15 sure Act; and 16 ‘‘(ii) as needed in order to maintain 17 consistency across services and outcomes, 18 approaches to— 19 ‘‘(I) reduce and prevent discrimi- 20 nation based on race or culture (in- 21 cluding training related to implicit bi- 22 ases) in the provision of child protec- 23 tion and welfare services related to 24 child abuse and neglect; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1483 IS ‘‘(II) address racial or cultural 1 disproportionality in the incidence of 2 child maltreatment fatality cases. 3 ‘‘(B) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT- 4 ING.—The State shall provide administrators 5 and staff of State-licensed or State-approved 6 child welfare agencies responsible for data col- 7 lection and reporting with training regarding 8 reporting on child maltreatment fatality cases 9 and applying the set of national definition 10 standards promulgated under section 3(a) of 11 the Child Abuse Death Disclosure Act. 12 ‘‘(2) STATE OPTION FOR TRAINING TO IMPROVE 13 EARLY DETECTION.—At the option of the State, and 14 in addition to the training required under paragraph 15 (1), the State may provide pediatricians, emergency 16 room physicians, and other medical professionals 17 with training relating to identifying, assessing, and 18 responding to potential abuse in infants to prevent 19 future cases of child abuse and related fatalities, in- 20 cluding with respect to improving conditions that 21 may result in an infant being unsafe, alignment with 22 child protective services policies and practices (as 23 appropriate), and identifying injuries indicative of 24 potential abuse in infants. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1483 IS ‘‘(e) FUNDING.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 2 amounts expended by a State during each quarter 3 beginning after the effective date of this section for 4 administrative costs (as defined in section 422(c)(1)) 5 to carry out this section and section 422(b)(19)(C) 6 shall be deemed to be amounts expended during 7 such quarter as found necessary by the Secretary for 8 the proper and efficient administration of the State 9 plan under part E and eligible for Federal matching 10 payments under section 474(a)(3)(E) without regard 11 to whether such costs are incurred on behalf of a 12 child who is, or is potentially, eligible for foster care 13 maintenance payments or adoption assistance under 14 part E. 15 ‘‘(2) TRAINING.—Amounts expended by a State 16 during each quarter beginning after the effective 17 date of this section for providing training under sub- 18 section (d) (including training at State option under 19 paragraph (2) of that subsection) shall be eligible for 20 Federal matching payments under section 21 474(a)(3)(B) without regard to whether such costs 22 are incurred on behalf of a child who is, or is poten- 23 tially, eligible for foster care maintenance payments 24 or adoption assistance under part E. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1483 IS ‘‘(f) INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The 1 Secretary, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary-In- 2 dian Affairs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the De- 3 partment of Interior and tribal child welfare organiza- 4 tions, shall determine how and the extent to which the re- 5 quirements of this section shall apply to Indian tribes and 6 tribal organizations (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 7 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 8 U.S.C. 5304). 9 ‘‘(g) NONAPPLICATION.—The limitations on pay- 10 ments for administrative costs under sections 424(e) and 11 472(i) shall not apply to State expenditures made to carry 12 out this section. 13 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL WEBSITE.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina- 15 tion with the National Center for Fatality Review 16 and Prevention, shall publish on a website that is 17 available to the public and maintained and updated 18 at least annually— 19 ‘‘(A) each report submitted to the Sec- 20 retary under subsection (b)(4); and 21 ‘‘(B) the findings and data submitted to 22 the CDR Reporting System under subsection 23 (b)(2) (with any personal identifying informa- 24 tion or information that identifies the submit- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1483 IS ting State redacted) in a manner that is acces- 1 sible as a public use data set for purposes of re- 2 search to identify risk factors to prevent future 3 deaths of children from maltreatment. 4 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 5 shall notify Congress when information on the 6 website required under paragraph (1) is updated.’’. 7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 425 of the 8 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 625) is amended by strik- 9 ing ‘‘426, 427, and 429’’ and inserting ‘‘422(b)(19)(C), 10 426, 427, 429, and 429A’’. 11 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL DEFINITION STAND- 12 ARDS RELATING TO CHILD FATALITIES FROM 13 MALTREATMENT. 14 (a) PROMULGATION OF NATIONAL DEFINITION 15 STANDARDS.—Not later than 18 months after the date 16 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 17 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec- 18 retary’’) shall promulgate proposed regulations estab- 19 lishing a set of national definition standards relating to 20 child fatalities from maltreatment that States shall use to 21 report data to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data 22 System established and maintained in accordance with 23 section 103 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 24 Act (42 U.S.C. 5104) and, not later than 6 months after 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1483 IS the date on which the public comment period on the pro- 1 posed regulations closes, shall issue final regulations [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]